Typically, a store layout refers to how shelving units with merchandise of various types are arranged. Shelving units may be located at various places, e.g., near an entrance, in front of a cash register, facing a road, and at an inner part of a store. Arranging shelving units at appropriate locations according to merchandise thereon leads to an increase in merchandise sales. Meanwhile, a franchiser running a franchise business with a large number of franchise stores has a desire to, as one form of merchandising, assess store layouts of the franchise stores to grasp consumer behavior.